Chapter 3: The Evidence on Her Phone
My attorney, Nina Harris, entered with a leather briefcase and the calm expression of someone who had already anticipated every argument.
Behind her stood Martin Hale, the company’s head of security.
Elliot looked at me in disbelief.
“You brought security to our home?”
“I brought security to my property.”
Martin remained near the entrance, saying nothing.
His presence was enough.
Nina placed a sealed envelope on the kitchen island.
“Elliot, you are being formally notified that your employment with Vantage Design Group has been suspended pending an internal investigation.”
“You can’t do this.”
“The board voted thirty minutes ago,” Nina replied. “It was unanimous.”
Elliot stared at her.
“I’m on the board.”
“You were excluded from voting because the investigation concerns your conduct.”
He looked at me.
“You planned this.”
“I prepared for it.”
“There’s a difference?”
“A very important one.”
I had not discovered the affair first.
I had discovered a payment.
A transfer of forty-eight thousand dollars to a consulting company that did not exist six months earlier.
The address led to a mailbox.
The mailbox led to Celeste’s apartment.
From there, the rest became impossible to ignore.
Nina turned to Celeste.
“Victoria says you may have relevant communications.”
Celeste nodded.
“He told me his wife had abandoned him. He said the divorce had been delayed because she was demanding money.”
Elliot laughed bitterly.
“And now you’re going to pretend you’re innocent?”
“No,” Celeste replied. “I’m going to admit I believed what I wanted to believe.”
That answer surprised all of us.
She looked at me.
“I knew he was married. He told me the relationship was finished, but I still knew. I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“I don’t.”
She accepted that without flinching.
“But I didn’t know he was paying for things with company money,” she continued. “And I didn’t know he was promising me property that belonged to you.”
She sent the contents of her message history to Nina.
There were photos, voice messages, transfer confirmations, and written promises from Elliot.
In one message, he claimed he would make me appear financially irresponsible during the divorce.
In another, he said he planned to convince the board that I was emotionally unstable and unfit to manage the company.
Nina read the messages in silence.
Then she looked at him.
“You should speak to your own attorney before saying anything else.”
For once, Elliot listened.
He grabbed his coat from the entryway.
Martin stepped forward.
“You may take your personal clothing and medication tonight. The rest can be collected later under supervision.”
Elliot turned to me.
“You’re throwing away nine years because I made one mistake?”
“One mistake?”
His voice rose, but he quickly controlled it when Martin shifted his stance.
“You were never there for me,” Elliot said. “You cared more about that company than our marriage.”
I studied the man I had once trusted completely.
He was handsome, educated, and persuasive.
For years, I had mistaken those qualities for character.
“I cared about the company because three hundred people depend on it,” I replied. “You used it because you wanted to look richer than you were.”
His face tightened.
“You’ll regret humiliating me.”
“No, Elliot.”
I nodded toward the front door.
“I regret protecting you for as long as I did.”
He left without another word.
The door closed behind him.
Celeste remained by the kitchen island, suddenly looking much younger than she had when she arrived.
She glanced at the untouched coffee machine.
“I can’t believe I ordered you to make me a latte.”
“Neither can I.”
A nervous laugh escaped her, then disappeared.
“What happens now?”
“To you?”
She nodded.
“That depends on how honest you are with the investigation.”
“And to him?”
Nina answered.
“That depends on how much money he moved and how many documents he falsified.”
Celeste lowered her eyes.
“There’s something else.”
She opened her clutch and removed a small flash drive.
“Elliot asked me to keep this for him last week. He said it contained private business files.”
Nina’s attention sharpened.
“Did you open it?”
“No.”
Celeste placed it beside the folder.
“But after everything I’ve learned today, I think you should.”
The room became silent.
May you like
Nina carefully picked it up.
“What’s on that drive,” she said, “may decide whether this remains a corporate dispute or becomes something much larger.”
